The Döner Kebab doesn‘t lie – Zu Besuch in Deutschland

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Erstellt am Freitag, 28. Oktober 2011 14:38

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From India to Deutschland…. 

I can’t believe I’ve been here for almost two months! Weeks flew by without me actually realising. Germany was the place I’ve always wanted to visit and now that I am here I making the most of it. I was nervous and afraid about the language and at first it sounded alien to me because I could understand nothing.

I used to sit in classes and stare outside the window like a zombie, and there were times when I felt really confused, frustrated and maybe sometimes I would feel that I was going crazy. This was a problem for a couple of days, but now after my Deutsch teacher, who probably has a hard time teaching me, has got something out of me and now I can understand and talk a little German. School so far has been really interesting, my class 10E2 is awesome and they are always willing to help me in whatever I require. Every Morning I wake up and look forward to going to school on my bike and discovering new things each day.
My host family is lovely and they make me feel at home with their family. Within these two months I have done a lot of things which have all turned out to be fun and exciting for me. All that I ever fantasized about were German cars, from the Volkswagen family to Mercedes Benz and BMW. Going to the IAA was unbelievably amazing and I was going crazy looking around and getting a first-hand look at the new launches and concepts. From the very beginning I came to Germany I was very impressed with the structure and the way everything works. It is totally different from India. I still remember the first time I came home from the airport with my host family and I saw not a single human being or animal on the street. The only thing I saw were cars zooming by along the streets. It was so quiet and calm. It was completely different for me, I was used to the noisy cars honking on the road, lots and lots of people on the streets. My reaction was “OMG, where am I? This place seems so dead”. That night Varun and I had a talk and the first question that was in both our minds was “CAN WE STAY HERE? ARE WE GOING TO MAKE IT FOR FIVE MONTHS?” And now what I always think is Kodi is so boring, and when my friends back in Kodi ask me “How’s Germany?” what I say is “It’s amazing, trust me I don’t want to get back to Kodi”. I have started liking Germany, and especially Hildesheim, so much that now I am attached to the place. I am getting used to life as a local here in Hildesheim. Everything is so perfect here.  Public transport is one thing I will miss when I’m back in India, it is so much easier to travel within the city or around Germany. Now I think it’s going to be really hard to leave and go back.
Deutschland ist toll.
Varun Garg

A New Place

When I first arrived at the Hannover airport, I was really excited yet scared about the whole idea of going home with a family that was at the time completely unknown to me. Now, over a month later, as I think back I laugh at myself. The family that I am living with is so amazing that I wish I had not had to go through all that anxiety.
Hildesheim is a beautiful and peaceful city. The people here are friendly and helpful. Each morning when I wake up to go to school, I actually look forward to how the day will turn out. With the new language, new friends and new teaching system, there is never a day that goes by when I don’t learn something new.
Language has never been a barrier for me as school has consistently been in English. One day, however, at Gymnasium Andreanum is so thoroughly exhausting that I can do nothing but fall asleep when I get back home.
One hour of Chemistry in English is enough to put a 15 year old in a coma. I must agree that it is more fascinating in German, however, just more confusing. The names of the elements are different, the technical terms for apparatus and safety equipment is different. The first few experiments we did in Chemistry and Physics, I literally walked in circles around the classroom looking for something to get while everyone knew exactly where the different chemicals and materials were!
The thing I will miss most about here when I go back is something I miss whenever I leave a certain place: the people. I already have so many memories with my classmates that I can’t imagine never seeing them again. When I left Kodi, I thought – “yeah, I’ll see you guys in six months!” The friends that I’ve made here though, when will I see them? It’s great to make new friends, go places, see things, have fun – but leaving is always hard. Right now I don’t want to even think about going back and just focus on having a great time while I’m here!
Divya Gautam

Döner and more

 „Willkommen im Hannover International Airport!“ These were the first words I heard when I arrived in Germany. So many things running in my mind, so many questions such as „How will things turn out?“
So far, my answer to that question is the word „awesome.“ As soon as the other exchange students and I collected our bags, we walked outside of the airport and were warmly welcomed by our host families. After meeting everyone, we all departed to the homes we would live in for the next four to five months. On the drive, I saw things that reminded me of California when I lived there, supermarkets, cafés and restaurants, people riding bicycles, etc. Except that all the cars are a lot cooler: Audis, Volkswagens, BMWs, and so on were everywhere, and I was in heaven being able to see such amazing cars. It wasn‘t a very long drive, and before I knew it, we were home. A nice calm and quiet neighborhood, situated near the outskirts of town, right next to a bus stop to get in and out of town. The house was amazing, and I fell in love with my room. I was exhausted and went to sleep in my amazingly comfortable bed. After a while, I went with my host brother Jonas into the city to go see the music festival that was happening in the center of the town. We met his friends and then proceeded to walk through Hildesheim. It was so much like my home town in California, and I was so happy to be reminded of it. After the festival, we went to another amazing place, a restaurant. Not just any restaurant, but a restaurant that had Döner Kebab! I loved it so much, it took me all of a few minutes to finish it. It was that Döner Kebab that helped me realize that I had nothing to be worried about and I‘d have an amazing time in Germany, and so far, what the Döner Kebab told me hasn‘t been a lie at all. I hope that one day I will be able to return to Hildesheim and meet everyone again, all the friends that I‘ve made, all the people who have helped me out while I was here. Germany is definitely „awesome.“
Aditya Chawla

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